Automatic vacuum packing of pelletized carbon black



Jan. 26, 1960 w, BULLS ETAL AUTOMATIC VACUUM PACKING 0F PELLETIZEDCARBON BLACK Filed De c. 13, 1955 3. Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2(

. J0me; M 50 5 IN V EN TORS BY 4 %m/7I M Jan. 26, 1960 J, w, BULLS ETALAUTOMATIC VACUUM PACKING 0F PELLETIZED CARBON BLACK Filed D90. 13, 19553 Sheets-Sheet 2 W mp-l lllllll r 1 a in :II n

M w h ,0,

James 3450/ James A. War/120ml fa iw'n J- 6/00552/1, t/r:

INVENTORS Jan. 26, 1960 J. w. BULLS ETAL 2,922,612

AUTOMATIC VACUUM PACKING 0F PELLETIZED CARBON BLACK Filed Dec. 13, 19553 Sheets-Sheet 3 James /4. 50/4 James ll ormam/ 001 J (yaasjem fl IN VEN TORS BY W United States Patent M AUTOMATIC VACUUM PACKING OFPELLETIZED CARBON BLACK 2 James W. Bulls, James K. Normand, and Edwin J.Claassen, Jr., 0dessa, Tex., assignors to Sid Richardson Carbon Co.,Fort Worth, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application December 13, 1955,Serial No. 552,766 6 Claims. (Cl. 249- 59 This invention relates to newand useful improvements in the art of packing and weighing machines, andin particular the invention concerns itself with apparatus for automaticvacuum packing and weighing of bags with pelletized carbon black.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thisnature which will rapidly fill and accurately weigh a predeterminedquantity of pelletized carbon black into a bag with the expenditure of aminimum amount of manual labor. This object is attained by arranging theapparatus so that it is almost fully automatic in operation, the onlymanual labor required being toplace a supply of bags in place at the bagreceiving station of the apparatus and to close the mouth of the filledbags as they emerge from theunloading station.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of powermeans for picking up individual empty bags, opening the mouth thereofand positioning the same on the material delivery nozzle of the machine.

Another important feature resides in the provision of means forcontrolling the flow of material through the nozzle so that the majorportion of the bag is very rapidly filled, whereupon the rate of fillingis substantially reduced for efiicient control of weight and stoppedwhen the bag is full, thus making it possible to maintain the weight ofthe filled bag withina very close tolerance of a predetermined amount.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision ofmeans for filling the bag by suction, that is, in

the presence of substantially reduced atmospheric pressure.

A still further feature of the invention involves the provision of powermeans for removing a filled bag from the machine.

Some of the advantages of the invention lie in its simplicity ofconstruction and in its efiicient and dependable operation. t V

. With the foregoing more important objects and features in view andsuch other objects and features as may become apparent as thisspecification proceeds, the invention will be understood from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like characters of reference areused to designate likeparts and wherein: Y I

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the housing, nozzle and scale used in theinvention, also showing a movable porvtion of the housing in its threepositions and illustrating bag mouth held open by the opening means;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of the bag unloading means;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the nozzle andsealing means for the mouth of the bag; and

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the housing with the bag therein.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, particularly Figs.1 and 2 thereof, the automatic bag packing and weighing apparatus inaccordance with the invention embodies in its construction a suitableweighing scale 10, on the platform of which is positioned asubstantially rectangular housing 11. This housing is composed of twocomplemental portions, namely, a relatively stationary portion 11a whichmay be secured to the platform of the scale, and a relatively movableportion 11b which is secured to hinge arms 12 connected, in turn, tohinge arms 13 on the stationary portion 11a. The hinge pins of the arms12, 13 are indicated at 14 and it will be observed from the foregoingthat the movable housing portion 11b may be swung laterally from theportion 11a to any one of the positions shown in :Fig. 1. Forconvenience of description, the stationary housing portion 11a may beidentified as the bag filling station, the position of the housingportion 11b at this station being designated by the letter F. When thehousing portion 11b is swung through approximately it is at the bagpositioning station P, while the bag unloading station U is locatedintermediate the stations F and P, as indicated. A stack of bags to befilled by the machine is manually or otherwise delivered from a supplystation S to a bag receiving station R.

Power means are provided for moving the housing portion 11b, these meanscomprising a double-acting hydraulic or air cylinder 15 pivoted at oneend thereof to a bracket 16 on the housing portion 11a and having itspiston pivoted to a crank 17 on one of the hinge arms 12.

A material supply duct 18 extends downwardly from a suitable hopper (notshown) in axial alignment with the aforementioned hinge pins 14 and isprovided at its lower end with a swivel coupling 19 attached to an elbow20. The latter, in turn, is connected by a flexible hose 21 to a bagfilling nozzle 22 which is secured to and projects into the upperportion of the movable housing portion 11b, as is best shownin Fig. 8.

It is to be noted that the entire weight of the housing portions 11a,11b as well as that of the nozzle 22 is supported by the scale 10, andthat the flexible hose 21 permits the housing and nozzle to movevertically with the platform of the scale while the duct elbow 20remains relatively stationary. It will also be observed that the elbow20, hose 21, nozzle 22 and housing portion 11b may swing laterallybetween the stations F, U and P, as facilitated by the swivel coupling19 connecting the elbow 20 to the duct 18.

Means are providedfor picking up individual bags from the bag receivingstation R, opening the mouth of each bag and positioning the same on thenozzle 22 whenv the housing portion 11b is at the positioning station P.The bags employed are preferably of the pasted end, valve closure type,the mouth of which can be expeditiously opened and readily sealed afterfilling. One of such bags is shown at 23, with the mouth portion thereofindicated at 24.

The bag pick-up, opening and positioning device comprises acarrier 25slidable vertically on a relatively stain Fig. 9.

or pipe 31 having a-downturned portion 31' connected to a horizontallydisposed, suction plate 32.' The latter has an apertured underside sothat when it is brought in contact with a bag and atmopsheric pressurein the line 31, 31 is reduced, the bagadheres to the underside of i theplate and may be picked up thereby. The line or pipe 3-1 is connected bya flexible hose 33 to a suitable air pump (not shown). i

A pair of coacting arms 34 are pivoted at 35 to a cross bar 36, thesearms being movable horizontally toward and away from each other andhaving free ends provided nected by horizontal pivot pins 41 to one endof the plate 32, whereby the arms'34 may be raised or lowered relativeto the plate. 1

switches 64, 65 responding to the movement of the balance beam of thescale 10.

Means are provided for unloading filled bags from the nozzle 22 at theunloading station U, these means being best shown in Fig. 7 andcomprising a power driven endless conveyor 66 suitably mounted forraising and lowering movement by a hydraulic or air cylinder 67 and.adapted to operativel'y engage the bottom of filled bags at theunloading station U, as illustrated.

Operation I Having thus described. the construction of theinvention, theoperation thereof will now be explained.

A stack of empty bags 23 is positioned at the bagsupply station S, fromwhich a single bag is manually or otherwise deliveredto the station R."At that station each individual bag is so positioned that the lowerthick- 3 ness or layer of the mouth thereof underlies the keeper lip42a. The machine is then set in rnotion so that the cylinder 29 movesthe frame-work 26 along the rail 28 to a position above the single bagat-the station R and.

. the cylinder 30 slides the carrier downwardly until The means foropening the mouth of the bag comprise a suction cup 42 carried by aconduit or pipe 43 which is pivoted at 44 to the pipe portion 31 and isconnected by a flexible hose 45 to the pipe portion 31', so that thesuction cup is energized simultaneously with the suction plate 32. Thepipe 43 is swingable in a vertical plane on the pivot 44 by means of ahydraulic or air cylinder 46 having one end thereof attached to abracket 47 on the pipe 31 while the piston rod of the cylinder isconnected to a bracket 48 on the pipe 43. The suction cup 42 isengageable withthe top thickness or layer. of the mouth of the bag,while the bottom thickness or layer thereof is prevented from lifting bya stationary keeper lip 42a suitably mounted at the station R.

Means are provided for sealing the mouth 24 of the 'bag 23 aroundthenozzle 22 when the bag is positioned on the nozzle as shown in Fig. 8,these means compris- -to a source of air pressure. Accordingly, whenair'under pressure is admitted into the collar 49, the latter isinfiated and brought into engagement with the mouth 24 of the bag, toeffectively seal the same around the noz- --zle 22. I a

While the bag filling operation is in progress at the filling station F,the housing portions 11a, 11b are together and, for vacuum packing, airis exhausted from the inside of the housing through a suitable conduitor pipe 53 connected to the housing portion 11a. 'To safeguard anypossibility of air leakage into the housing in this position, a flexiblediaphragm or a resilient gasket 54 which may be of soft rubber or thelike is provided in the housing portion 11w adjacent The flow ofmaterial through the nozzle 22 is controlled by a valve unit 55 providedin the aforementioned .duct '18 immediately above the swivel coupling19, this valve unit being best shown in Fig. 3 from which it willresponding to changes in air-pressure applied thereto through therespective pipe lines 62, 63 communicating with opposite side portionsof the casing 56. Thelines '62, 63 are connected to fsolenoidvalves(notshown) "which, in turn, are individuallycontrolled by mic-rothe bag,as shown air throughthe conduit 53.

the suction plate 32 contacts the bag. Simultaneously,

the pipe 43 is lowered by the cylinder 46 so that the suction cup 42contacts top layer or thickness of the'mouth portion 24 of the bag.Then, with the plate 32 energized, the bag is lifted by action of thecylinder 30 and is shifted toward the bag positioning station P.

While the bag is being carried by the suction plate 32 the cup '42 isenergized and raised by the pipe 43 to separate the upper and lowerlayers of the bag mouth while the arms 34 are actuated by the cylinder38 so that the jaws 37 engage'the mouth portion of the bag and asssit inopening the same, as illustrated in Fig. 6.'

The frame-work 26 then continues to travel toward the positioningstation P, and in the meantime the cylinder 15 has been actuated toswing the housing portion 11b to the station P, with the nozzle 22 inalignment with the open mouth of the'bag. In the final stage of its"movement the carrier 25 causes the open mouth of the bag to slide overthe nozzle 22, suction of the plate 32 and cup 42 is released, the arms34 are retracted and the bag is supported by the nozzle. v sure isadmitted through the conduit Sl into the collar 49 so as to expand thelatter into a sealing engagement with the open mouth of the bag.

The cylinder 15 then swings the housing portion 11b togetherwith the bagtherein to the filling station F, 'wherein the housing portions 11a,11b-come together and vacuum is produced in the housing by exhausting.Thereupon both valve members 60, 61 are opened and material from thehopper (not shown) is drawn through the duct 18 and nozzle 22 into thebag. Whenthe bag is nearly filled theweight thereof acting through thebalance beam of'the'sc'ale 10 will actuate the'micro-switch 59 at acomparatively slow rate until the bag is filled to predeterminedcapacity. At that time the second micro-switch 65 will close thesecondary valve member 61 and completely stop the flow of material tothe bag. By virtue of this arrangement the bag can be filled veryrapidly to almost its full capacity, and the filling operation may befinished at a comparatively slow rate to assure accuracy in maintainingthe weight of the filled bag within very close limits. With the fillingoperation completed, the housing por tion 11b is swung by the cylinder15 to the unloading a ion U nd. the conveyor 6.6 is raised y hecvlinder67 so that'it engages "the bottom of the filled bag and removes the samefrom the nozzle 22 to any suitable point where the open mouth of the bagis manually closed by'the At that time air underpresoperator. Thehousing portion 11b then continues to the positioning station P for thenext cycle of operation.

The various actuating cylinders, etc., used in the apparatus may bemanually controlled by the use of suitable valves, or alternatively,they may respond to an automatic control mechanism timed in accordancewith the operational sequence already described.

If desired, the weighing operation and the fine delivery of materialinto the nearly filled bag may be omitted, and the material weighedeither before or after filling. Also, the bag pick-up and positioningdevice per se may be employed separately as such, in environments otherthan that disclosed herein.

It will be also understood that while the invention is primarilyintended for use in packaging pelletized carbon black, it may be alsoused for packing and weighing of any similar fluent material.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferredembodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparentto those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly,it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure, and variousmodifications may be resorted to, such as may lie within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In an automatic bag packing apparatus, the combination of a housingincluding a relatively stationary portion constituting a bag fillingstation and a complemental bag receiving portion movable from saidstationary portion selectively to a bag positioning station and a bagunloading station, power means for moving the bag receiving portion ofsaid housing, a nozzle provided in the bag receiving portion of thehousing and operatively connected to a material supply, power means forpicking up a bag and positioning the mouth thereof on said nozzle whenthe bag receiving portion of the housing is at the positioning station,valve means for controlling the flow of material through said nozzlewhen the bag receiving portion of the housing is at the filling station,means for exhausting air from said housing while a bag on said nozzle isbeing filled, means for automatically closing said valve means when thebag is filled, and power means at said unloading station for removing afilled bag from said nozzle.

2. An automatic bag packing and weighing apparatus, comprising incombination, a scale, a housing positioned on said scale and including arelatively stationary portion constituting a bag filling station and acomplemental bag receiving portion movable from said stationary portionselectively to a bag positioning station and a bag unloading station,power means for moving the bag receiving portion of said housing, anozzle provided in the bag receiving portion of the housing, meansoperatively connecting said nozzle to a material supply, power means forpicking up a bag and positioning the mouth thereof on said nozzle whenthe bag receiving portion of the housing is at the positioning station,means for sealing the mouth of a bag on said nozzle when in positionthereon, valve means for controlling the flow of material through saidnozzle when the bag receiving portion of the housing is at the fillingstation, means for exhausting air from said housing while a bag on saidnozzle is being filled, means responsive to actuation of said scale forautomatically closing said valve means when the bag is filled, and powermeans at said loading station for removing a filled bag from saidnozzle.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the bag pick up andpositioning means include means for opening the mouth of the bag priorto positioning thereof on said nozzle.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the bag pick up andpositioning means comprise a movable carrier, power means for moving thesame, a bag engaging suction plate supported by said carrier, a set ofbag engaging arms movably connected to the carrier, power means formoving said arms, a bag mouth engaging suction cup provided on thecarrier, and means for actuating said suction plate and said suctioncup, whereby a bag may be picked up and the mouth thereof opened priorto positioning by said carrier on said nozzle.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said means foroperatively connecting said nozzle to a material supply comprise amaterial duct having said valve means provided intermediate the endsthereof, and a flexible hose connection between said duct and saidnozzle, whereby to permit movement of said housing on said scalerelative to said duct.

- 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said valve meansinclude a relatively large main passage and a main valve member thereinand a relatively small secondary passage and a secondary valve membertherein, said means for automatically closing the valve means comprisingindependent actuators responsive to said scale for closing the mainvalve member in advance of the secondary valve member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,489,676 Smith Apr. 8, 1924 2,137,334 Dorrington Nov. 22, 19382,350,666 Allen June 6, 1944 2,448,733 Peebles et al. Sept. 7, 19482,546,193 Lindstaedt et a1 Mar. 27, 1951 2,687,271 Carter Aug. 24, 19542,691,476 Petrea Oct. 12, 1954 2,705,607 Inglett Apr. 5, 1955 2,725,168Lindstaedt Nov. 29, 1955 2,737,001 Bucha Mar. 6, 1956 2,763,458 KindsethSept. 18, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 487,538 Canada Oct. 28, 1952

